In the Beginning
by dauntlessmockingjays
Summary: "Are you trying to scare me to death?" I shouted at him. "What would make you say that?" he replied with a smirk playing on his face. This is the story of Cato and Cloves meeting.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: "Are you trying to scare me to death?" I shouted at him. "What would make you say that?" he replied with a smirk playing on his face. The story of Cato and Cloves meeting.**

**Disclaimer: The main characters and the idea of The Hunger Games all belong to the wonderful Suzanne Collins**

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"Head up and shoulders back Clove, I want the other kids to fear you"

My father patted my back as if to say good luck but instead of feeling loved I flinched at his touch. My father and I had never got along very well and this was before my mother had died 7 months ago after she was in a fire at her work. I was distraught and couldn't cope with the loss of her however instead of caring my father tortured me.

He would beat me until I did what he told me to do. Every time I went against him or stepped one foot out of line I was whipped and the more I cried out in pain the more he would hurt me. Because of this I put on a face, I acted strong even though I felt like I was crumbling apart inside. Now that we were only living off my father's wages we didn't have enough money for us both to live off. At first I thought he was going to make me starve but instead he decided to send me to District 2s Training Academy.

In district 2 once you reach the age of six you have the decision of whether you go to a normal school and go on to get a normal job or you could go to the training academy and train for the hunger games. My father had always wanted me to go there but my mother wanted me to live a normal life. I thought I was safe from attending the academy. Until now.

Today was the day I was going to start at the academy. My father and I were outside the building but he quickly vanished off leaving me, a eight year old girl to look after herself and sign myself in. I could run away now but I know that the trainers inside are expecting me and I don't want to know what punishment they'll have for me if I don't turn up for my first day.

As I walked in I was shocked by how rich everything looked. I'd grown up in a poor area of district 2 and had never seen so much expensive equipment before and I was only in the reception. The lady at the front desk seemed nice enough once I had introduced myself and she started to show me around the school.

It was massive, much bigger than I had expected. Mixar the lady who was at the front desk informed me that all the other students were currently having breakfast and then having a lecture in the hall for half an hour afterwards. Apparently I was supposed to use this time wisely to try a few of the weapons and see what I was good at. I didn't need this time though as I already knew what I would excel at. Knifes.

A few months ago when my father first started to beat me I seriously considered ending my life. I know some people may think that's a bit drastic for someone of eight but I had no idea how I was going to cope. I couldn't bring myself to cut though so instead I grabbed the knife I was going to use and threw it at the wall in front of me out of anger. I was surprised when I looked up and saw that the knife had travelled in a perfect straight line and lodged into the wall. After this to calm me down whenever dad beat me Instead of running to my room to cry I would run to my room and throw knifes.

I continued to do this for months, not just to calm me down but in preparation for the games. I know I may not ever compete in them but I always feared that I would. As soon as my mother died my father had told me that he would force me to put my name in for extra tesserae so he could sell this and use the money for alcohol.

Looking around now though I know that I'm going to have to practise more than ever if I want to stand a chance against these kids. Some of the weapons here could easily kill me in a matter of seconds if I'm not prepared enough with my knifes. Mixar gave me a timetable of what I would be expected to do here over the next week. According to this sheet I had one trainer who would teach me all the different weapon skills I needed to know.

I figured I might as well use this time wisely to have a go at a few of the larger weapons which I'd never gotten my hands on before. It was clear though after I attempted to throw a spear that I should stick to knifes for now. After all I am only a small eight year old girl who can only just manage to hold the heavy object. So for the rest of the time I was on my own I threw some knifes at a dummy.

Even though I had been throwing knifes for months I'd never actually thrown them at a dummy yet I was quite pleased with myself when my first knife went straight into its heart. I did this for about half an hour and still no one came into the gym until a Dark haired man in his early twenties walked in. My guess was that this was my trainer.

"Hello, Clove my name is Krat and I'll be showing you the ropes over the next few days" He shouted as he looked down at me. I tried to remain confident as being weak would get me nowhere in this place and there is no way I was going to let any rich kids who were here to bring pride to our district think they're better than me.

"Where are the others?" I replied confidently.

"The other students? They are using the other gyms available here. This gym is our smallest and is only used for one on one sessions"

I was relieved that the other kids wouldn't see me make a fool of myself as I tried to use a bow and arrow or swing an axe.

"So Clove, got any skills I should know about it"

"You see those knifes in those dummies over there?" I pointed to the dummies that I had just been attacking and then I pointed to the pack of knifes that did hold ten but now only had three left inside.

"I see so you've had practise before then"

"Not practise; it's more of a stress reliever"

I spent the rest of the morning training with Krat as he showed me how to hold a sword and a few moves that would instantly kill any opponent. It was surprisingly kind of relaxing as I just imagined that the dummies were my father and that I was finally getting the revenge I deserved. When lunch came though any relaxing vibes I had were gone. When I arrived in the lunch room it was packed full of kids between the ages of 6 and 11. All the 12 to 18 year olds were in a different room as according to Krat the older kids will take their anger out on anybody, even six year olds who aren't strong enough to hold a sword.

I felt out of place as everyone had there group of friends who they were sat with whilst I was stood on my own. An older boy around the age of 11 with brown hair walked into me and my tray of food spilled to the floor making a sound which everyone in the room heard. As I looked up all eyes were on me. Considering how innocent these kids look at least half of them look like they are planning a way to kill me.

Straight away I realised I wasn't going to fit in here, ever.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur as Krat tried to get me to use some other weapons and put my precious knifes down. Truth is I felt safe with them in my hand as here in this academy I had no idea how might come and attack me. I wasn't too bad with a sword after I practised some more, the only problem being that it was slightly too heavy and I dropped it every so often.

By the time dinner came I was relieved to find that at least half the kids who were in the canteen earlier had gone home. At this academy if you lived locally then you could go home every day but if you lived a long distance away like me who lives on the other side of the district then you board overnight. Thankfully the older trainees weren't here either and I felt a lot more relaxed than I had earlier. I grabbed some food and sat in the corner munching away.

The next two days followed the same routine. I'd get up out of bed and go and meet Krat for one on one training. At breakfast, lunch and dinner I would find a quiet area in the canteen and eat as much as I could. I would need to put on weight and gain muscle if I was to compete with the other kids here. Even some of the six year olds looked stronger than me. Krat soon realised that I was pretty incapable with most weapons and told me that tomorrow I would be joining in with the rest of the kids my age.

I didn't sleep well that night and I was thankful that the girl I was bunking with had been at the academy hospital for the past few days. I tended to thrash about in my sleep if I was having a nightmare and in this place I was having them all the time.

Once again I ate on my own at breakfast and Krat showed me to the room where I would have my first lesson with the other kids, Hand to Hand Combat. As I entered the room all eyes were on me. They all recognised me as the new girl even though none of them had directly spoken to me. I could hear a group of the girls sniggering to themselves about how easy I'll be to fight with.

The lesson went by slowly and I didn't actually get to participate as the instructor wanted me to observe and learn from others. When it did finish I went off with the rest of the group to the outdoor athletic stadium. A new instructor introduced herself to me and told me that I was now in physical exercise class. I didn't really understand the title of the class as surely all the lessons were physical exercise.

I was made to run around the track and to my surprise managed to finish first out of all the girls. I always knew I was fast but I didn't realise how fast I was until I was up against girls who had to run the track every day for the past two years. When we'd all finished doing basic exercises to build up strength we were told we had an hour in the main gym to practise whatever we wanted too.

In the main gym all the other kids between the age of 6 and 11 were there and suddenly I felt like I was back in the canteen on the first day except this time they all had weapons. Somehow I managed to find my way to a bench behind the spear and knife throwing stations. I watched as I girl around the age of 10 who looked pretty full of herself tried to throw a spear yet landed three feet away from the bulls eye. I couldn't help but laugh and before I realised what I was doing the girl had too and she didn't look happy.

"What are you looking at you little brat?"

Normally in this situation I would sit back and not say anything and let the comment pass but something about this girl made me mad.

"Nothing, I'm just sat here thinking about how incapable with a spear you are"

This took her by surprise and apparently the rest of the room had heard too as everyone stared at the two of us only meters away from each other. I should say sorry and that it was a joke before she attempted to kill me but I couldn't. I wouldn't.

"Woah, would you look at this the new girl has a voice. Like you could do any better"

"A spear, you're probably right, I couldn't. But then again I've been here for a week, you on the other hand have been here for what, four years?"

"You better watch what you're saying before I.."

"Before you what?" I know I shouldn't be fighting back but I need to stand my ground if I'm going to survive in this place. I quickly walked past here and grabbed a knife.

"Before you do this?" I whispered as I threw the knife without any real effort at the dummy and landed a perfect bull's eye. "I'm not as weak as you thought I was, am I?"

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_A/N: I'm trying to make this story different to others and if anybody has any ideas they'd like to put forward for the story then please tell me in a review. I hope this story will show a different side to the characters and will show some of you that the careers aren't all bad and that they have their reasons for being the way they are._

_Anyway I would love to know what you thought about this so please review and tell me your thoughts. Thanks for reading so far._

_Also you'll get to read about Cato for the first time in the second chapter._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Sorry for not updating in a few days but I've been so busy recently. Here is the next chapter though and I hope you all enjoy.**

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I walked out of the gym with my head held high as I listened to the girl I had just outshone tell her friends it was beginners luck. She wishes. Lunch was going to be served in a few minutes so I made my way to the canteen and grabbed an apple from a fruit basket that had just been put out. As I started to eat the fruit groups of kids came crashing through the doors and started to line up for their food.

Everyone parted for me as I made my way around the room. Nobody dared make eye contact with me and when I sat down at a table nobody sat near me, not because I was the new girl but because I was the girl that they now all feared.

The forty five minutes we are given for lunch flew past quickly and before I knew it we were being ushered out of the room and back into various gyms to continue training. Along with my class I was taken to a large room full of different sized axes. We spent the next hour throwing the axes and had a mini tournament to see who had the best aim.

I wasn't actually that bad with axes as long as they were small and light. Anything that was too heavy for me though affected my aim and I normally landed a couple of inches away from my target. A few of the girls around me would snicker when I missed but I let it pass by as I reminded myself that they had been here for three years and I'd only had a few days training. The fact that none of the girls were much better than me at throwing the axes made me feel even better about myself and I even allowed myself to laugh at them.

Once the lesson had ended everybody got up to leave and I was about to follow them when I felt a strong hand grab me from behind. I was about to try and get out of the grip but the person let go when I turned around. I had thought that it would be one of the students hoping to get in a fight but thankfully it was just Krat who had come to explain to me that all the eight year olds were about to take a test of some sort which I didn't have to as I had only been here a few days.

"So you can do whatever you want until dinner however I suggest you use your time wisely Clove"

"Is the main gym available to use?" I asked curiously.

"I have a feeling that the 11 year olds are occupying it at the moment but I'm sure Dranc wouldn't mind you using some of the equipment"

"Who's Dranc?"

"Ah, he's head instructor for 11 year olds. Not the best job going here."

"Why? Surely it's better to be head of 11 years old then it is 6 year olds."

"Yes but 6 year olds don't know what they are doing and just go ahead with it. A lot of the 11 year olds have made up their mind whether they are going to continue training or not. A lot of them this year are going to leave the school so they are no longer bothering."

"I thought everyone had to train here until we go into the games or turn 18."

"Only the students who are good enough continue to train. When you are eleven you can enter a exam, if you pass the exam you continue training and if you fail you stop. A lot of the kids have been told that there not good enough so there not taking the test. The only problem for them now is that when they start at an educational school next year they will be behind and they won't come out of it achieving good grades which means they will end up with the worst jobs in the district."

If that was the case then why didn't more kids stay on at the training school? At least that way they know they are going to get a job out of it. By training at the school you have three choices for when you turn eighteen. If you think you are strong enough to win the games then you volunteer. That's the first choice. If you don't go down that path though then you have to choose between either becoming a trainer at the school or taking up the position of peacekeeper. The second option may not sound that appealing as the majority of them have to leave district two but it's well paid and you get free accommodation in whatever district you end up.

Krat directed me to the main gym but I was pretty sure I hadn't forgotten how to get there since earlier. When I arrived Krat went other to talk to Dranc about me and I stood awkwardly at the door to the room watching the other kids making a fool out of themselves. Krat wasn't joking when he said that they weren't good enough. I still can't believe I was scared of these people when I first came here. Only a few of them were actually pretty good with their chosen weapons and they were all crowded around one and other as they took turns attacking a row of dummies.

Once I was allowed to do whatever I liked I walked straight over to the knives and started throwing. A few of the other trainees were staring and they probably remember me as the girl from earlier on today. I didn't care if they stared though, it encouraged me to carry on and do better. All of a sudden though they all stopped looking at me and paced backwards and off to different stations in the gym. At the target next to me was a tall boy with blonde hair who had a spear in his hand and was preparing to aim. Why was everybody so scared of him?

I went over to my target to pull out my knives when all of a sudden one of the boys spears landed by the side of my feet. I turned around to see a smirk on the boy's face. I stood there startled. I wanted to shout at him for nearly killing me but I couldn't. No words were able to leave my mouth. He walked over calmly and quickly grabbed his spear from off the ground. With his other hand he extended it in front of.

"I'm Cato"

Come on Clove, what is happening to me. I should shout back at him and tell him that I don't care but I can't. I know I have to get away from this situation though and I walk away to the other side of the room and start to climb one of the walls. Who did this boy think he was, he could've killed me and all he can say is 'I'm Cato'. As I scaled the wall I turned my head slightly so I could see where I just was. Cato however wasn't there and I started to scan the room for him. I was so focussed on trying to find him that I didn't realise somebody was climbing up the wall next to me and had stopped. When I turned back around I nearly fell down the wall in shock as I was met by the deep blue eyes that had just nearly killed me.

"Are you trying to scare me to death?" I shouted at him.

"What would make you say that?" he replied with a smirk playing on his face.

Ignore him Clove, there is no point in letting him wind you up. I told myself this over and over again and continued to climb the wall. No matter how much I climbed and believe me this was a very high wall the boy with the deep blue eyes continued to follow me. I even moved to the left to see if he followed and he did. Why did this boy feel the need to follow me around?

When I finally stopped climbing and reached the bottom of the wall again the class was starting to leave and I followed them out of the room and to the main entrance of the academy. Most of them were leaving to go home and the rest started to go to their rooms before dinner was served, all except one. He just stood there and watched me; he didn't say anything he just stared. To avoid any awkward confrontation I quickly retreated to my room and had a quick shower and changed into some clean and simple clothes for dinner.

I had been told earlier that the girl I'd be sharing a room with would be back from the hospital tomorrow so I attempted to tidy up the room. Since coming here I hadn't made any friends and I know I'm not going to survive the next ten years here all alone so I need to make a good first impression with this girl. I want at least one girl to like me. I don't even care if we don't become that close, as long as I have someone I can talk to. I've never really had any friends so I've never cared what people thought of me but I would have to see this girl every day for the next ten years of my life.

When I was satisfied with how clean the room was I made my way to the canteen for dinner where I sat on my own. Not today though as I when I arrived at my small table I saw that a boy was sat in the seat opposite the one I've been sitting in these days. The boy with blonde hair and deep blue eyes looks up at me and smirks. What was I going to do now?

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_A/N: Clove finally got to meet Cato. Was it what you were expecting? (I don't really like the end of this chapter much myself but it ties into what I want to happen next anyway) Please tell me what you guys thought as what you guys think makes all the difference. Once again I'm sorry for not updating quickly but the next chapter should be up in a couple of days, even sooner if lots of people review._


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Thank you for all the reviews so far and to everybody who has read this so far thanks for taking time out to read it. Hope you like the next chapter. And could you guys please read the A/N at the bottom of the page, I need your advice on how to continue this fic. Thanks**

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I marched over to the boy sat on my table and took my seat opposite him on my table. As I sat down I glared at him hoping for him to explain the reason he was sat with me. Nothing. All he did was stare back with a smile playing on his face.

"Haven't you got someone else to stalk?" I finally spoke up after a few moments of silence which only included us staring at each other and making me feel uncomfortable.

"Don't think too highly of yourself princess, as if I'd stalk you," he slyly replied back.

"Well then why have you been following me?"

"It's merely a coincidence that I've been around you."

"Yeah, that's likely. So tell me why decided to sit here today then?" I half-heartedly laughed back at him. There was no way it was coincidence.

"I felt like change." Was all he said.

"Well don't you have some friends to be with?"

"Nope, I'm as lonely as you."

"I'm not lonely," I shouted back.

"So that's why you spend all your time alone then?"

"I've only been here a few days," I replied defensively. "I've not had the opportunity to talk to people and interact."

"Oh yeah, because talking to people during classes or at meals is practically impossible," he laughed at me with a stupid chuckle. Gosh this boy was annoying. "Don't you have a roommate to befriend or have you not had the opportunity to talk to her?" He sarcastically replied. Little did he know that his sarcastic comment was true.

"You're right actually, I haven't met her yet, she's been in the schools hospital with a leg injury."

Once he realised I had just made him look stupid he looked down at his food and played with it on his plate. We sat in silence as he started eating again. No more words were said as we ate our dinner. For some strange reason it kind of felt nice having him there. Having another person with me felt comforting, it made me feel like I had friend. I had to remind myself though that Cato wasn't my friend and that he never would be if he carried on acting like the jerk he had been.

It was obvious that he had finished eating way before I had but he still sat there unmoved. When I too had finished I got up to take my plate over to the bench for washing next to the kitchen and Cato followed with his remains. It annoyed me how he acted around me, whatever he had said earlier I was and still am certain that he's following me around. I started to walk back to my room and I could still feel Cato's presence behind me. Why wouldn't this boy just give up? He isn't even supposed to be going down this corridor as this part of the building has the girls rooms whilst the other side has the boys.

He could feel I was tensing up as when I turned around to give him a piece of my mind he started walking off in another direction towards the main gym. At first I thought he had only gone down there so it didn't seem like he was following me but I was suddenly intrigued as to see what he was going to do know. Training out of school hours wasn't against school rules but it was if you didn't have an instructor in the room with you and considering everyone was now eating he would be on his own.

My curiosity got the better of me so I followed him to his chosen destination. I tried to keep a good distance between us so he couldn't tell or hear that I was now following him and that our roles had been reversed. When he arrived at the gym and walked through the doors I stayed back to look through some windows at first but slowly started to make my way through the door. I thought I had been quite enough but obviously not as Cato turned on his heel and looked in my direction with no look of shock or surprise on his face.

"Haven't you got someone else to stalk?" He called out to me. I shuffled on my feet as he looked at me from the other side of the room. I tried to avoid eye contact with him but he was making it impossible as he continued to glare at me waiting for a response. Nothing would come out of my mouth though. I tried to speak but the words wouldn't form.

"You know you're an odd one Clove," he spoke softly.

"How do you know my name? I never told you who I was."

"I heard some of the instructors talking about you; they think you'll go far in this place."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I shouted back confused. Did they really see potential in me; I'd only been here five minutes and apparently they already think I'm good enough.

"It means that they'll want you to volunteer when you're eighteen."

"What if I don't want to volunteer?" I snapped back.

"If that's the case then you might as well pack your bags and leave now, people don't come to this school just so they can train and then go off and life a normal life. People come to this school so they can become strong enough and brave enough to volunteer for the games. People come here so they can bring pride to their district."

"Well obviously I'm not like most people then."

"That much was obvious when you took on Sara," he laughed aloud.

"Who?" I asked confused. Did he not realise I was new here and the only names I knew were those of the instructors and his.

"The girl in the gym this morning, you might not want to get on the bad side of her again."

"Why? She looked pretty pathetic to me." I questioned. Once again he laughed before walking over to me at the door and looking down upon me. He looked calm yet at the same time like he was finding all of this too funny to cope with whilst I stood there with a confused expression planted on my face.

"She is, but others don't seem to think so. You see Sara is manipulative, I mean she's only ten years old yet she's already convinced most of my year to back her up and protect her. If anyone annoys her then she just gets others to deal with them, I guess you could say Sara doesn't like to get her hands dirty."

"But why would people stick up for her, she may be manipulative but what's so special about her?"

"You mean apart from the fact her father is a past victor."

"Her dad won the games! Which victor is he?" I asked shocked but the revelation.

"Brutus, that's why everyone backs her up, nobody would want to get on her father's bad side. Unfortunately for her though she didn't seem to inherit her father's skills when it comes to fighting or any weapons for that matter. Of course she'll still be expected to volunteer which will only end one way for her."

"Well this is just great, I've not even been here for a week and I've already managed to make an enemy."

"You'll be fine," he replied reassuringly. "All you need is a friend."

"Because there are loads of them available here, you're the one who said that I was all alone here."

"Maybe you don't have to be,"

"Huh? I don't understand."

"Friends?" he suggested whilst extending his right arm in front of him towards me.

Did I want to be friends with this boy? All I knew about him was that he'd seemed to have fun stalking me all afternoon and evening. Then again everything he said had been true, there's no way I'm going to survive here without someone helping me out along the way which makes me wonder how he's managed to get by all these years. Without thinking twice I too extended my hand and nervously shook his.

"Friends," I replied because for the first time in my life I finally felt like I'd made one.

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_A/N: Clove and Cato finally interacted properly. What do you make of their friendship so far? (If you can even call it a friendship?) So I'm not sure whether to write one more chapter of them at this age and introduce Clove's roommate or if the next chapter should be when Clove is 12 and facing her first reaping. Also what do you guys think about the new revelations about Sara, she may seem like a nobody at the moment but towards the end of this story she'll play a very important part in what happens to Clove. Please tell me what you think and as always your reviews and thoughts are greatly appreciated._


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Most of you guys said I should write more chapters of Clove and Cato as younger kids so here is chapter 4 where you get to meet Cloves roommate.**

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The rest of the night past in the blur. After I agreed to be friends with Cato he swiftly exited the room leaving to get yelled at by an instructor I'd never meet before turning up in the gym and telling me I shouldn't be here out of hours. Luckily though I got away without any form of punishment, all I had to do was play up the new girl act and pretend that I'd got lost on the way back from dinner. They seemed to buy it and left me to my own devices to find my room after telling me what direction to go in.

Once I got to my room I continued to read a book I'd started yesterday called Divergent that I'd got just before coming to the academy. Apparently it was an old book from before the Dark Days that belonged to my neighbours' ancestors. Apparently they'd never read it and they decided to give it to me as a going away present. I tried to get lost in the world of Tris Prior and forget my own problems that I'd managed to make myself an enemy within only being here for a few days.

I slowly started to drift off but my mind wouldn't allow me to fully sleep. Instead images of Cato the friend I had made today flooded my mind. He really was a strange character. I still didn't understand why he had offered to be my friend; I was just a small new eight year old girl whilst he was already stronger than some of the older trainees at only the age of 11.

When I did finally manage to succumb to slumber it felt like I had only been asleep for a couple of hours before somebody was poking the right side of me. I quickly turned on my bed to see Krat staring at me. I wanted to shout at him for waking me up at such a stupid hour but when I looked over to my clock on my bed side stand I realised I had only been woken up half an hour before I was supposed to.

"Morning Clove, there's someone we need you to meet," he spoke whilst something moved ever so slightly behind him. I rubbed my hands over my eyes to try and wake up properly when a small girl only about an inch taller than me appeared from behind Krat. The first thing I noticed was the cast on her leg and instantly I knew who she was even though I didn't know her name.

"Clove this is Azalea. Azalea this is Clove your roommate," Krat said as he pointed between me and the girl.

"Hi," she said quietly as she extended her hand. I shook it quickly and replied with a simple hello.

"Ok well I'm going to leave you two girls to it, remember that breakfast is in 45 minutes girls," Krat shouted as he started to walk out the door before finally slamming it shut.

The girl in front of me had long flowing blonde hair and blue eyes that could rival Cato on how nice a shade of blue they are. She wore the simply gym wear that we're forced to wear and she had a smile on her face that seemed real and friendly.

Azalea stood there awkwardly for a moment and she contemplated saying something but deciding not to and instead started to unpack her belongings on the other bed on the other side of the room. I wanted to say something but I wasn't sure what to say. The girl standing in front of me with her back to me seemed nice from first impressions but I'm pretty sure she was probably annoyed that she'd had to give up having a room to herself to have to share with me.

"It's nice here isn't it," she finally spoke. "Well most of the time it is."

"I guess," was all I could reply.

"So your names Clove then?" She asked as she turned to look at me. "That's a pretty intimidating name you've got."

"Really? I've never thought of it like that."

"Don't tell me, you're skilled with knifes," I nodded quickly. "I knew it, it's fitting for your name." She smiled back at me.

"I'm just going to use the shower of that's okay with you," I asked, it would be weird to have to get used to sharing things. Over the past few days I'd come used to just doing what I wanted whenever without having to think about anyone else.

"That's fine, I've already had one today."

I muttered an okay and thanks and made my way to the small bathroom and showered as quickly as possible. I'm not sure why I did this as I had plenty of time to spare as I'd gotten up early, I guess I didn't want Azalea to think I was avoiding her. Once I was done I got changed into some simple gym wear and went back into the room to see Azalea perched on the end of her bed. I could tell she wanted to ask something so I leaned against the door awaiting her words. Unsurprisingly she spoke straight away

"Why have you come here now?" She asked. "I don't mean to sound rude it's just that people don't normally join the academy at our age." Azalea seemed nice enough which meant I felt like I could tell her the truth. Well not all the truth but still I wouldn't be lying.

"My mother died seven months ago, so my father shipped me off here." I tried to reply calmly.

"Oh I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's fine, I'd rather be here than home right now anyway."

"Well I'd rather be home than here. Not that I don't like talking to you, you seem like a nice girl really. It's just that I have no hope here, I mean look at me," she said pointing to the cast on her leg. "If I could defend myself than I wouldn't be in this mess would I?"

Once again my curiosity got the better of me as I asked her what happened for her to end up with what I can only guess to be a broken bone in part of her lower left leg.

"Sara happened," she announced.

"Sara did this to you?" I replied.

"Well technically not Sara but she's the reason it happened to me."

"So she doesn't like you either then?"

"Well ever since I accidentally threw a knife in her direction and missed her head by only a few inches we haven't exactly gotten on well."

"They did this to you because your aim isn't great?"

"That's one way of looking at it, and yes. I got on the wrong side of her and this is how I pay for it."

"They did get in trouble for this didn't they?" I ask but I had a feeling I already knew the answer and when Azalea shook her head I knew I was right.

"Amazingly they managed to make it look like an accident, they claimed that I'd fallen down the stairs and as it was all of them against one I didn't stand a chance at proving them wrong."

"I'm so sorry for what happened," I whispered.

"It's okay; I guess I'll just have to watch my back around here now,"

"Must've been a hard decision to come back here."

"I didn't get a say in the matter, once you sign up to the academy you can't leave until you're at least eleven," she replied back. "Come on, I'm starving, let's go and get some breakfast."

She pulled me off my bed and linked her arm with mine. As she pulled me out of our room and down the corridor I can't help but think how hard this must be for her. She's been forced to come back to the school where a group of kids attacked her. On the outside she doesn't seem to care and she brushes over the past but I can tell that on the inside it's eating her alive knowing that she's is going to be forced to train with her attackers once more.

It will be different now though, I'll make sure of that. Sara may be two years older than me and as manipulative as Cato makes out she is but now me and Azalea are a team. We'll protect each other. Well I hope we will anyway. If that's what Sara did to her just because she accidentally threw her knife in the wrong direction then what would happen to me.

After a few minutes of walking the school floors we arrived in the academy canteen. I looked up from where we were standing to my usual table where Cato was sitting. As I looked into his eyes though I watched as his expression changed from joy to sorrow. We grabbed our food and headed I pointed over to the table I'd been sitting at for the past week.

"You're friends with Cato?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that,"

"Well at least my cousin finally made a friend."

What did she just say? By the time what Azalea had said finally sunk in we had arrived at the small table where Cato scowled at the two of us stood there.

"Nice to see you again Azalea," Cato said as he ignored me. Both Azalea and I sat down as her and Cato started to talk about their family and her accident. I wasn't included in the discussion and tried to distract myself with my food. Nothing could district me as even though Cato wasn't talking to me he spent all of breakfast glaring at me and let me tell you whatever I had done to annoy him he was doing a very good job at hiding how angry he was.

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_A/N: What did you think of Azalea? I'm not a hundred percent sure I like this chapter but I wasn't sure how else to introduce Azalea. Anyway next chapter will explain why Cato is so angry. Oh and sorry for the lack of Clato in this chapter but they'll be plenty of the two of them in the next chapter. Please tell me what you thought of this chapter and if you have any ideas about what you think could happen in the future of this fic then don't be afraid to tell me via review. Thanks for reading so far._


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Am I the only person who doesn't like the title of this story? I really want to change it but have no idea what I'd change it to. If any of you have any suggestions for titles then please tell me via review or pm. Hope you like this next chapter.**

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By the time we had stopped eating the majority of the kids in the canteen had left and it was just a few other people and us left in here. Azalea seemed like a genuinely nice girl but as soon as she started talking she drived me up the wall. To say she could talk for all of Panem would be an understatement, she never shuts up. Most of the time its annoying but she doesn't do it deliberately. I guess you could say she was very chatty, something I and by the looks of it Cato weren't. Once Azalea had finally finished telling us about how mean one of the nurses was to her we were being ushered out of the room so the staff could clear up.

"I'm going to go back to our room to get some water, I'll see you in first lesson," Azalea called out to me as she started walking down the corridor.

"Do you want me to come?" I replied.

"I'll be fine, I've got to go and see Krat before first lesson anyway, there's no point in holding you up."

"Are you sure it's safe to be on your own Azalea," Cato shouted.

"The corridors are clear Cato, I can protect myself anyway."

"Look where protecting yourself got you last time," Cato muttered under his breathe. He was probably hoping I wouldn't hear but I did. Before he could try and convince her to let one of us go with her she was off.

"I don't know how she's coping, I wouldn't be able to face coming back here," I dont know why I said it. Was I expecting a reply because Cato was defiantly not in the mood to give me one of those.

We stood there for a moment watching the space that Azalea had just occupied neither of us moving until Cato turned and walked in the opposite direction before pushing past me.

"What's your problem Cato?" I shouted trying to get his attention. It seems to work as he came to stop and walked back towards me. He towered over me and gave me one of his famous glares.

"Just stay away from her okay," he replied.

"Who? Azalea?" He nodded in reply. "Well that's a little difficult Cato as we share a room, she's the first friend I've made here apart from you if you can even call this a friendship."

"If you know what's good for you then you'll stay away from here as much as possible."

"I don't understand," I replied.

"Half the kids here have it out for her, she knows herself that she's going to get attacked again, she's trying to act like everything's okay but deep down she knows that she shouldn't have come back."

"So let me help you protect her, I've already scared Sara and her lot, no one will touch her if I'm with her all the time."

"Some ones a bit full of themselves."

"Since when did you want me to victimize me?" I asked Cato frustrated.

"Please Clove this isn't about you, just let me and my family handle this."

"How can your family do anything, the training school has the most power in all of District 2."

"We're trying to get them to allow us to train her at home."

"They won't allow it," I replied confused.

"They've made exceptions in the past, we just need to get the evidence that proves that Sara and her friends pushed Azalea. If we can get that information then they'll allow it."

"There is no evidence though, It's her word against theres."

He didn't reply and instead turned to walk away again. I started to chase after him unsatisfied with how the conversation ended. Obviously Cato hadn't figured out himself how he was going to convince the school that Sara was guilty. Unfortunately when he stopped walking I realized that he was about to walk into the door for his first lesson. If I remembered right then I had Spear throwing now.

Realizing I was probably running late I started to run towards one of the smaller gyms which was used for long distance weapons. When I arrived I was suprised to find that I wasn't one of the last to arrive and that there was only a couple of people already here. Once everyone was here the instructor went over the basics and told them the rules and health and safety for spears and then allowed the trainees to go off and practice on their own. I however required a little more help because of my lack of experience.

This seemed to amuse a few girls in one corner of the room who were muttering about the confrontation that happened yesterday between Sara and myself. About half way through the session Azalea came in and muttered an apology to our instructor before turning on her heel and hobbling over to me.

"How are you supposed to train with that on your leg," I asked curiously. I don't know why I hadn't asked before.

"I'm not until this is off I can only sit and watch," she replied sounding annoyed. She sat against the wall next to me with her legs stretched out. "Looks like I'm not your only audience," she whispered as she pointed to the girls who had been talking about me earlier. Even though I know that they had been talking about me earlier I couldn't help but think that the audience was actually for Azalea, not me.

By lunch time we had already trained in spear throwing, axes and tridents (not that anybody really made any effort with tridents, they were normally favored by the tributes from District 4). When we entered the canteen I was being dragged by Azalea to my usual table away from the rest of the trainees. I wondered how she knew that this was the table that I sat at but realized that she probably didn't know and just wanted to sit here because nobody else did.

Cato was already sat there with a worried expression playing on his face. As soon as he realized that Azalea he managed a smile. It was directed at her though, not me as if looks could kill then I would be dead. It looked like he had daggers in his eyes and he was poised to attack me any second. I shook it off though, he knew there was no way I was going to sit back and watch as people looked at Azalea the same way Cato looked at me.

No words were shared between Cato and myself and I soon realized that I ever wanted to get him to answer my questions then I would have to get him alone. Luck seemed to be on my side as after lunch we were given an hour like yesterday to practice whatever we wanted in the main gym. Azalea refused to go in claiming that she felt sick because of the food she had in the hospital last night. Both me and Cato who were stood with her whilst she told an instructor all of this knew that she was lying and the truth was that she didn't want to face Sara and the others.

Cato headed straight to sword training and and started slicing at an dummie. I figured I might as well join him as swords I wasn't half bad with swords, after all there basically just longer knives. Cato seemed to notice I was there as soon as I within ten feet of him as he stopped what he was doing and turned to confront me.

"What do you want now Clove?"

"I'm not going to leave Azalea to be on her own Cato," I replied.

"Maybe it's better if she is."

"If you really wanted to protect your cousin then you should let me look after her too," I shouted back at him as he started to cut up the dummies again.

"Oh come on Clove," he started as he looked away from the dummies that was now cut up into a hundred pieces. "What are you going to do if ten kids come running at you?" Not knowing what to say I simply shrugged my shoulders hoping he got the message that I didn't know what I would do. "Exactly, I don't need to have to protect both Azalea and you."

"What? I don't need you to protect me, unless you haven't realized I'm doing perfectly fine on my own Cato."

"You've only been here for less than a week Clove, you don't realize how bad it'll get here for you. If you honestly think that standing up for yourselves yesterday did any favors than you're wrong."

"What are you trying to say Cato?" I replied frustrated.

"Isn't it easy enough to figure out Clove, you're their next target."

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_A/N: First off sorry I haven't uploaded in a few days my laptop had a virus and we're still trying to get it fixed. This means that updates might be a bit late at the moment but I will try and update as soon as possible. The more updates I get the harder I'll try to update quickly._

_Anyway what were your thoughts? Are you guys liking Azalea or even Clove and Cato for that matter. Please review telling me what you thought. As I said in the disclaimer at the top if any of you have any ideas for names for this story then please tell me. Thank you for reading so far and remember to review._

_Oh and anybody who has either reviewed, favourited or have got this on story alert then I love you all._


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: So you guys seem to like the story title as it is so I'll keep it as In the Beginning for now but if any of you still have ideas for possible titles then please tell me. Anyway here's chapter 6, sorry it's a short one, hope you like it though.**

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I stood there stunned as I tried to fully process what Cato had just said. I wanted to yell at him and tell him that he's wrong but the truth is he isn't. I knew I was never going to get along with Sara after our incident but I didn't think I would become the number one public enemy.

Instead of saying anything I picked up one of the smaller swords and tried to copy what Cato had done a few moments ago. I wasn't half as good as Cato was but it had the desired effect as the dummie had been stabbed and cut into many pieces. Somehow I got a sudden adrenaline rush out of this and I moved onto attacking more of the dummies lined up against the nearest wall. I tried to focus, something the instructors said I had to work on so I imagined every dummie was Sara. It wasn't until the room went deadly silent that I realized I somewhere along the line my anger levels reached boiling point.

As I looked around the room I saw that all eyes were on me as people looked at the damage I had caused. In my head all I was doing was cutting up a few dummies when in reality I had done a whole lot worse than that. Within a ten meter radius around me everything was a mess, curtains had been shredded to pieces, weapons which I hadn't realized I'd touched were scattered on the floor at my feet and on the mats there was clear drops of blood. My blood.

Cato came running to me once I had fully understood what had happened however he backed up when he noticed the sword I still had in my hand. Even I didn't know it was still there. without hesitating I dropped it and let it fall to the hard ground with a clang which could still be heard through the silence in the room.

"Clove are you okay? What did you do to yourself?" he asked worried as grabbed hold of my arm to examine it.

"I don't know Cato, what happened? Did I attack myself?" I asked back.

"You went crazy Clove, I thought you were going to hurt somebody else, not yourself."

One of the instructors came over to me and muttered some words to Cato which I could barely make out due to my mind concentrating on the slice of skin in my upper arm. Suddenly something was being wrapped around my arm and I was being pushed out of the room. I couldn't make sense of my bearings or what was going on. The only thing my brain fully took in was the group of students stood near the door and the one in the middle telling the others that she knew I was crazy. Of course Sara thought I was crazy, no sane person would stand up to her like I had.

Within a few minutes of half walking and half being carried by someone I arrived in a large white room with bright lights. Not only was the sight of the blood making me feel sick but after a few minutes the smell was traveling up my nostrils and making me feel woozy. Whoever had been carrying me lay me down on a bed as a nurse, well I think they were a nurse started to fiddle around with some tape and antibacterial.

There was a stinging on my arm when whatever she had in her hand came into contact with my bloody skin. I wanted to scream out in pain but my body was too tired to even move to the excruciating pain I was now feeling. The only thing that made me feel any better about this was that whatever it was in the long run it would improve the state I was in now.

"Clove! Clove! Can you hear me," shouted a familiar yet distant voice. I nodded my head slowly but I'm pretty sure it would've looked more like I was shaking it then nodding it.

"Clove I need you to listen to me and stay awake," they replied.

"But I'm so sleepy," I murmured unsure whether they heard or not.

"Sleep can wait for a few minutes Clove, we need to know what happened to you, can you remember anything?"

I started to say something back but my eyes wouldn't allow it as they started to close as my mind went black and hazy. My body was trying to make me feel into a long sleep and my mind accepted this fact and started to close off. The last thing I heard was someone shouting at me to stay awake but I couldn't, all I wanted to do was sleep.

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_A/N: Just to clarify it wasn't Cato that carried her to the medic room/hospital. It would've been one of the instructors. I'm so sorry that this chapter is so short but my as you guys know my computers been playing up and I wanted to get something out to you guys as quickly as possible. I've already started writing the next chapter so that should be up in the next two days._

_As usual please review and tell me what you thought, your opinions are the most important to me. Also if you have any good fanfiction recommendations then send them my way by review please (only because I rarely check my private messages)_

_Thanks anyway for sticking with me and reading this so far. I hope to update quicker in the future._


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Sorry for the long disclaimer there are just a few things I want to say. As I said in the last chapters AN if any of you have any fanfictions you want me to read send me the link through review as I rarely check my private messages. It can be your own or someone elses fic just send me the link and I'll read and review. Also thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited and have put this on story alert so far. Hopefully this chapter will make up for the rather short one I uploaded the other day.**

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As I opened my eyes and looked around I tried to make sense of the room I was in. Everything was white and clean which could only mean one thing. I didn't understand why I was here though, the last thing I remember was training with some swords in the gym. I remember the curtains that I'd cut and the blood. My blood. I looked down to inspect my body and noticed I was wearing a white nightgown and was covered in a thin white blanket. On the top of my right arm though was a clean bandage and a tube coming out of it.

The tube was full with a red liquid that was most probably blood which was being pumped into me. I looked around frantically wanting to know what was going on when I noticed a blonde boy curled up in the corner of the room asleep.

"Cato," I called out. I know it was selfish of me to wake him but he had decided to make the decision to come and see me. There was no reply though. No body else was in the room and I didn't know how else to get the attention of either Cato or the medical staff who must be on the other side of the door. I tried to pull myself up off the bed but it was no use as I fell to the floor quickly. It seemed to the trick of getting attention though as Cato woke up from his slumber and the medical staff burst through the door and came to my aid.

"What the hell do you think you're doing miss," one of the doctors shouted at me.

"Clove are you okay?" Cato asked as he helped the doctor lift me off the floor and back into the bed.

"I'm fine Cato, what happened?"

"You don't remember?" he replied worringly.

"Sort of, I don't remember coming here or falling asleep."

"That's because you passed out," the medic informed me.

As I sat up in the bed which took all of the strength in me to do the doctors assistant passed me a cup of water and told me to drink. I wasn't thirsty but I knew that if I didn't drink then they'd force it down me so I sipped slowly as I waited for them to tell me what was wrong.

"So what's all this about then," I asked signaling to the bandage and tube.

"Well when you cut yourself Clove you lost a lot of blood," he started.

"How much?"

"Enough that you could've done some serious damage." he replied.

"So you're saying this," I pointed to my arm again, "Isn't serious?" I asked sarcastically.

"That's treatable, now we have been able to fix up the cut and we've been pumping blood back into your body since you got here."

"When was that, how long have I been here?"

"It's been about nine hours, the kids been here all the time," he said pointing to Cato who turned away at this comment.

"Will I be able to leave soon?"

"Not sure, we'll have to run some tests on you to see how your doing but right now you're still quite weak from the loss of blood. You're going to need to take it easy for a while." I nodded as he turned to his nurse and muttered something to her.

"You sure you're feeling okay?" Cato whispered as he made his was over to the right side of the bed and sat on the end.

"I'm fine, really, just a little tired that's all. Is that normal, me to be feeling tired, I mean I've just slept for nine hours?"

"No it's normal I think, when I was younger I dropped a knife and cut my leg open, even when I was fully treated all I wanted to do was sleep." He looked at me waiting for a response and all I did was laugh. "Hey, I was only five okay."

"Fine I get it, you were a clumsy toddler."

"Exactly," he replied. "So what happened earlier then?"

I should've expected him to bring him but the answer was that I had no idea myself. All I know is that I started going crazy and destroyed the place. The motive behind my actions was still unknown to me.

"I'm not sure, it just happened I guess."

"Clove people don't act like you did for no reason, I didn't mean to annoy you with what I said about me having to protect you."

"You didn't annoy me, I don't know what it was Cato I just got mad okay, I guess everything that has happened here so far just got to me in that moment." I replied. I looked up into his eyes and saw that he was staring at me. Not the normal unfriendly stare that he usually gives me, this one was kind. "So you've been here since this happened?"

"Well I wasn't going to leave you on your own, was I Clove. Everyone thought you'd gone mad, even I thought you have. You know I may have been the clumsy toddler but it's you who's clumsy now, I can't believer you actually cut yourself."

"Come on I didn't mean too," I laughed back at him. " Hey where's Azalea?"

"Probably asleep, you know it's about 11pm now."

"What! We left her on her own Cato, what if something bad happened to her?"

"You're in a hospital bed after attacking yourself and you're concerned for someone?" he asks. I nod in reply but I'm angry, he doesn't seen to understand that we've left her on her own in a vulnerable state.

"You worry too much Clove, she's fine, she spent the rest of the day with my brother."

"You're brother!" I shout earning me a few looks from the doctor and assistant who were now outside the door. " Since when did you have a brother?" I asked.

"Since I was born."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I angrily shout back at him.

"It never came up in conversation." he muttered back.

"How come I don't know who he is?"

"He's a year older than me so he's in advanced training, they have a different lunch hour to us, come on Clove don't get mad at me. I was gonna tell you about him some time I just never needed too."

"So, do you two get along then?" I ask trying to change the subject.

"I guess, well as much as brothers can, why?"

"You said you didn't have any friends the other day."

"He's my brother, he doesn't really count as a friend, I rarely see him anyway what with him being in advanced training."

"What's that?" I ask curiously.

"It's just what they call training for the 12 to 18 year olds."

"How's it different to what we do now though?"

"Advanced training prepares you for the games, you have to decide when you start what one weapon you are going to train with and then you spend the next six years doing just that."

"Sounds like fun," I replied sarcastically. It most defiantly did not sound like fun.

"Yeah well that's where I'm headed next year."

"Then you can be with your brother again,"

"Who's gonna look after you?" he asks.

"I can look after myself perfectly well."

"I'll believe that when I see it, after today I don't think anyone will want to come near you."

"Well that's a good thing I guess, I don't even like half the people here."

"You sound just like I did when I came here," he chuckled. "Go to sleep Clove, you look tired."

He was right, I was tired but I didn't want to go back to sleep. I wanted to stay awake and talk to Cato about nothing and everything at the same time.

"The doctor wants to run some tests on me though," I replied trying to come up with an excuse to stay awake. Technically I wasn't lying.

"Well he'll wake you when he does Clove, go on sleep," he practically demanded.

"Are you going to go?" I ask.

"Not if you don't want me to," he replied.

"Good," was all I said as I turned on my bed and started to drift off into sleep. A sleep with dreams filled with Cato and myself. Once I woke realization hit me. I had a crush on Cato.

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_A/N: Aw, Clove has finally admitted her feelings for Cato. So what did you guys think. Please review and tell me what you thought, also if you have any ideas on what could happen in the future of this fic please tell me._

_Also a while ago I started to write a fanfic where Cato and Clove are the victors of the 74th hunger games. The story will be about how they cope with the effects of winning. Anyway I was wondering if you guys would read it and if I should upload it as a sequel to this fic._

_Thanks for reading so far and remember to review._


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Thank you to everyone who sent me some ideas I will try my best to include as many of them as possible into this story. It's amazing how many of the ideas were actually things I'd thought of putting into the story later on. With that in mind I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

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was confused, no I'm not sure if confused is the right word but I don't know how else to explain it. Why would I have a crush on Cato, none of this made any sense to me. Sure he was my friend and probably the only person other than Azalea who has actually been nice to me since I came here. Stop it I need to stop thinking like this. For crying out loud Cato is three years older than me and will be moving up to advanced training next year. Anyway he doesn't like me like that, I'm pretty sure he just pities me.

I spend the next few days in the hospital ward thinking this over and it still continues to baffle me. Cato comes by everyday to make sure I'm alright, even the nurse jokes that he must really care about me. This just confuses me further though as it leads me to think that he might actually like me back. But then it just leads me to the other assumption that he cares for me like a sister. I can't help but think that the only reason he spoke to me on the first day was because he felt he had to protect someone like he has to for Azalea.

I want to talk to somebody about this but the only person who I could is Azalea and I'd rather not go up to her and admit that I have a crush on her cousin. Because of this I keep it bottled up inside. Part of me thinks I should tell the nurse, she seems like a nice enough person and I doubt she'd care enough to tell anybody but I quickly decide against that too as I'd seem like a stupid little girl.

When I'm finally allowed to leave Azalea comes to get me and hugs me telling me that I've missed so much in class as there was a fight between two boys because one of them got the last piece of cake for desert one night. Even though I'm supposed to take it easy and spend the rest of the day in my room Azalea thinks it best that I eat with her at dinner. Truthfully I think she's dragged me along with her because she doesn't want to be alone when Sara is here.

By the time we get to the canteen its packed and the only seats that are available area the ones by Cato and a slightly taller boy with the same blonde hair and blue eyes who I assume to be Catos brother. As soon as Cato sees me he walks over to us and starts saying something to Azalea that makes her run over to the drinks.

"I'm sorry about Azalea she shouldn't have brought you here what with all these people here," Cato whispers.

"It's fine, I'm going to have to face everyone some time aren't I," I reply back as I swallow the lump that is forming in my throat.

"You know if she knew what happened then she probably wouldn't have made you come."

"You mean you didn't tell her what happened?" I ask as I stop shovelling food onto my plate. Even though the food in the hospital ward wasn't too bad I've been craving a proper meal for days.

"She'd only over react and then who knows where we'd be."

"She has a right to know Cato." I shout back.

"Why does it matter, she's better protected if she doesn't"

"You think I'd hurt her don't you?"

"Of course not Clove,"

"Is that what everybody else thinks then?"

"Come on Clove don't upset yourself," he replies grabbing my arm trying to stop me from doing something stupid. When his hand touches my arm it starts to tingle until I remind myself what's going on here.

Azalea comes running back over to us and grabs my arm pulling me over to the table which was only occupied by the mysterious brother.

"Clove this is Emar, Emar this is Clove," Azalea shouted.

"It's so nice to finally meet you I've heard so much about you," he spoke as he stretched out his hand which I shook.

"Wish I could say the same about you," I muttered under my breath hoping that no one heard yet I'm pretty sure that from the scowl that has formed on Catos face he had.

Much alike all my other meals in this place I didn't speak instead I allowed the conversation to flow between Azalea and Emar. He seemed like a nice enough person but I couldn't help but wonder why he was still here. Hadn't Cato said that he had other friends and that Emar didn't talk to him much while they were at the training academy. Every so often one of them would ask me a question but I think they quickly realized I wasn't in the mood to answer any questions.

Due to the fact I hadn't taken part in much of the conversation and because I was starving I managed to finish my food pretty fast. I mumbled a goodbye and said something along the lines of I'm tired and should probably go and get some sleep. Before I even made it out of the room I could hear footsteps following behind me and before the person spoke I knew who it was.

"What do you want Cato?" I asked turning around to see him surprised that I knew it was him. Seriously who else would talk to me in front of a room of people who were glaring daggers at me.

"You're still annoyed with me because I didn't tell you about Emar aren't you," he asks as he drags me out of the crowded room and into the corridor  
"What does it matter Cato, just let me go I want to go and get some sleep."  
"So that's a yes then?"

"Look I just wish you'd have told me about it, it's not a big deal though so it doesn't matter okay."

"Why are you acting so strange around me then?"

"What do you mean?" I ask back intrigued.

"Ever since you attacked yourself you've been weird around me," well this is just great Cato can sense something is off but there's no way in hell I'm telling him that it's because my feelings are confused at the moment. "Look I'm here for you, you don't have to feel like your alone in this place. Just because everybody else here is going to treat you like your a crazy maniac it doesn't mean I am."

I slowly nod my head taking in everything he said. For some reason it hadn't occurred to me yet that people would start to treat my differently, well it's not like they were ever nice to me in the first place but still. We stood there in silence for a few moments both waiting for somebody to say something but no words would escape either of us. Instead Cato pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms protectively around me.

"I won't let anybody hurt you Clove and that's a promise." If only he knew that those words managed to confuse me even further.

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_A/N: Okay so what do you guys think about Emar, you may not have learnt much about him but he will play a very important part in the story in the future. I just want to make it clear that Clove is only eight so I wouldn't say she is in love with Cato (sorry to disappoint anyone) because she's far to young to understand what love is. Sorry if the story is a little boring at the moment but I promise you it will pick up as I have some big story lines which will appear in the story soon._

_Once again I want to thank everyone for the suggestions and if you have any more then keep them coming. This A/N is also a sorry for updating recently I should be able to start updating more regularly again so I can get chapters out quicker._

_As always please review and tell me your thoughts, thanks for reading and sticking with me so far._


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Make sure you guys go back and check out the last chapter as I replaced the authors note I wrote with it. Anyway here is chapter 9, hope you enjoy**

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Days past without much happening. Because of my current state I wasn't allowed to take part in any of the training yet I still had to attend the lessons. Instead I sat out and watched everyone else make a fool of themselves with Azalea who even though her leg is on the mend and she should be taking part she claims that it stills hurts just so she doesn't have to work. Sitting out was beginning to bore me and after a while all I wanted to do was pick up a knife and throw it at something or a certain somebodys head.

Even though Sara wasn't in my class as she's two years older than me somehow I managed to be in her company whenever we weren't training and when I was it felt like she'd paid people to make my life a misery. Wherever I went I always had a pair of eyes fixed on me glaring at me waiting for me to lash out again. The only time I felt comfortable was in my room and even then it was awkward some of the time.

She didn't mean to but I could tell that Azalea felt uncomfortable in my presence all the time. She tried to pretend that it's all okay but even she's starting to believe the rumors that I'm insane. Sometimes I think that even I'm starting to believe them myself. The only thing that kept me from fully believing them though was Cato.

Every time someone glared or made a comment he was there beside me protecting me. He even came with me when I was told to attend a meeting with the leaders of the academy to asses what had happened. I had to sit there for an hour listening to them talk to each other back and forth and not once did they ask me anything. About half way through the meeting I began to question why I was even there. It didn't look like I made any difference to the decision they made.

The leaders decided that I was safe to stay at the academy as long as I was kept under a watchful eye for the next few weeks. They claimed that I acted the way I did because of my history before starting here. Apparently events like mine weren't as rare as I thought at the academy and quite often late comers feel the need to take they anger out and it sometimes get a little out of control.

After the meeting Cato and I walked in silence to the canteen, hopefully it would still be serving dinner as it was starting to pretty late. I could tell that something was on his mind but he wouldn't say anything. I was curious though and wanted to know but I wasn't in the mood for any arguments tonight so I tried to ignore him as best as I could as we took the long journey from one end of the academy to the other.

By the time we reached our destinations I was relieved to find that they were still serving food and quickly piled on some meat of some sort onto my plate. As I sat down to eat I could feel Catos eyes on me. It wasn't like when we first meet though and he stared at me, this was different. I couldn't tell how though it just was. During the meal which we had to finish quickly as the dinner ladies were hurrying us up as they wanted to clean up me and Cato managed to make small talk. Mostly it revolved around Azalea and how Cato and his brother had been making bets to see if she would leave the school before or when she turned 12.

Something about the conversation didn't seem right though. It was obvious that what he was saying was supposed to be amusing but he said everything with a blank expression on his face. He looked hurt, like somebody had just taken a knife and stabbed his mother in front of him. Okay maybe that was a bit drastic but still I could tell that he was pained. His eyes which used to be so bright yet deep at the same time now looked empty. He tried to put on a brave face to cover whatever was going on. I knew I had to ask him what was wrong but now didn't feel like the right time. He offered to walk me back to my room but no words were said as we parted ways.

Upon entering the room I was shocked to find Azalea lying on my bed flicking through something. It didn't make sense though what could she possibly be looking at. The academy didn't have many books and those that it did have wouldn't interest Azalea, in fact I don't think any books would interest Azelea or many students here.

"Hi," I said as I shut the door behind me looking at Azalea who was still engrossed in the book.

"Oh, sorry I didn't hear you come in," she muttered back. "You're mum was very pretty, its clear to me now where you get your unique eyes from."

Yes my eyes were pretty unique as they were a shade of grey with a hint of violet that I'd never seen on any one else before except my mother. But how did Azalea know what she looked like.

"I hope you don't mind but I was just looking for something and I came across this and just thought I'd take a look inside," she said as she lifted up the old tattered book that I recognized oh so well.

"Give that back," I yelled as I climbed over my bed to hers and grabbed it from her hands. "This is personal, all of this you got that? You shouldn't been looking around in my stuff let alone reading anything that doesn't belong to you!"

I hadn't realized how loud and brutal I was until I saw Azaleas' expression. She looked like she was about to cry as if my words were harsh. They weren't though were they. I was in the right, she had no right to look at the book.

"So-orry I didn't mean to upset you I just, ugh I'm really sorry Clove if I knew how much it meant to you I wouldn't have looked. I just thought that I didn't really know anything about you and then I saw the picture of you and your mum and I just.."

"It's fine, forget it you've seen it all now," I replied.

"I truly am sorry," pause " you look just like her you know but I guess you get that a lot."

"I used to, not anymore."

"Why?" She asked intrigued.

"She died not to long ago, it's just me and my dad now. Well just me, I don't like to count my dad as family."

"Oh Clove, I'm…"

"Don't say sorry Azalea, it's not your fault any of this happened."

"Do you miss her?"

"All the time, my life has been hell without her."

"Can't have been much worse than mine," she says as she pulls a photo frame out from under her bed and moves over to sit next to me so I can see the picture. "This is my family, well was my family."

Looking down I see the photo of a small family all smiling at an event. I can tell that this photo is a few years old now as the person I'm guessing is Azalea looks to be about five in this photo.

"There's Cato and Emar," she says pointing to the two boys sat on her right in the photo on the floor smiling at the photographer yet play fighting at the same time. "And there are their parents," she says pointing to the young couple stood behind them.

"Wow, they look so alike, all of them."

"Then behind me you have my parents Galria and Orti and next to them my grand-dad Kia." She says with tears in my eyes.

"Well it looks they're all really nice."

"They were," she whimpers pausing. "Two weeks after this photo was taken we were all round my grand-dads house and I was playing out back at the time with Cato and Emar at the time of the accident."

"Accident?"

"There was fire, it spread quickly, they couldn't get out. The only person who survived other than us kids was my dad and that was only because he was in the bathroom when it happened so he was able to keep himself safe with water. Everybody else was dead by the time they'd put the fire out."

"Aw Azalea I'm so.."

"Don't say sorry, it's not your fault any of this happened," she replied repeating my earlier words. "I'm gonna head off to bed now, it was nice though getting that off my chest, I've never told anybody any of that before." She said before getting under her covers and falling into a sleep.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Azalea. I know she didn't want me to but there's me thinking I've had a bad when she's been through all of this. It wasn't just her mum who died but also her grand-dad and her aunt and uncle. Catos mum and dad.

Maybe this could explain why Cato acted the way he died. Why he felt the need to be so protective of Azalea, why he didn't seem to be afraid of anything any more and why he seemed to look so pained. Cato now finally managed to make sense to me.

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_A/N: So there may not have been a lot of Clato in this chapter but what did you think of that. Bet none of you saw that coming did you?_

_For those wondering the book was a scrap book that Clove had put together of her and her mother as a way of remembering her. I like to think she used it to comfort her._

_On another note I was thinking of putting together a collection of thg related one shots so if any of you have any ideas or requests then please send them my way on here or my tumblr (link on my account)_

_As per usual please review and tell me what you thought_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Ahh this fic has reached 10 chapters, it may not seem like a lot to you but it is to me.**

**Once again I'd like to apologise for not updating in a while, I've been super busy and I'm back at school (I say school but actually I've now started sixth form, or junior year I think, I'm not sure how the American school system works) now so I'm not sure when updates will be but I will continue to update this so check regularly as updates might end up being really random.**

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By the time I had woken up the next day Azalea had already left the room obviously not in the mood to wait for me to go down to breakfast. Even though she's trying to be independent I can't help but think back to what Cato said about having to protect her against others. Ignoring the fact I would now be on my own I got changed as quickly as possible and power walked to the canteen as I was running late and there was no way I was going to miss meal time.

Once I had arrived though Azalea was nowhere to be seen. I wanted to talk to her about last night but obviously she didn't want to. Maybe that's why she left this morning. Looking around there weren't many people there but of course Cato was. Most people would be happy that there only friend was there but I couldn't face him after what I'd learnt last night. I wanted to tell him how sorry I am for everything that's happened to him but I know that's not the right thing to do.

Knowing that it's better to talk to him normally than not at all I walked over to our usual table food in hand.

"I was worried about you," Cato said without lifting his head from the food which didn't look it had been touched apart from the fork which he was using to play with it. "I thought maybe something had happened between you and Azalea, she didn't say anything though."

"You waited for me?" I ask. His comment had brought me joy knowing that he still worries about me and wants me to be safe.

"Well yeah, I thought that if something had happened then you wouldn't want to be alone. So?"

"So what?"

"What happened between the two of you. I mean I get it your girls you have arguments like that all the time."

"It's not like that," I replied trying to defend myself but I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because Cato assumed I was like other girls.

"Why are you both acting so weird then?"

"We just talked that's all okay, got some things off our chest." Technically I wasn't lying.

Cato could clearly tell I didn't want to say anything else on the matter as he finished the conversation and started talking about some boys in the room next door to his that used a fire extinguisher to spray the boys corridor last night. It was nice this, being able to talk to Cato like this. Only a few days ago we couldn't hold a conversation and yet here we are now conversing like normal people and it's just the two of us.

"So what are you going to do tomorrow then?"

"Huh, what's different about tomorrow?"

"It's Saturday Clove, we get the weekend of training. It's not like you'd have known anyway last weekend you were still in hospital."

"Oh so what can we do then?"

"Technically not a lot, well we can do anything we want on campus but we can't actually leave the school." Cato says as a large grin forms on his face. Something tells me that he likes the weekends here. "About a year ago though when we were playing outside on a sunday we found this lake within the grounds but it's hidden by a large group of trees. Most people probably know of it but since then no one's been there but us."

"So you go there every weekend then?" I ask intrigued about this wonderful lake.

"Yeah. Emar, Azalea and I go every Saturday, we save the day for family day but your welcome to join us."

I was so tempted to jump on Cato and hug him as this was acceptance that I was finally his friend but I couldn't. This lake was special to him and his cousins and I wasn't going to ruin that for them. "No I couldn't possibly interrupt you guys."

"Seriously Clove, normally Azalea loves you and Emar seems to think you're a nice enough girl. Anyway if you don't join us then what else are you going to do?"

"I could stay here and practise I guess. I mean I do have to get better to compete with you guys."

"Well then I'll help you train on Sunday but tomorrow you're coming with us end of conversation," Cato softly shouted at me.

Before I could say anything else Cato grabbed our two plates and emptied the rest of the food into the bin before signalling for me to leave with him. I was sure he was going to comment on it but for some reason he didn't mention the blush that was refusing to disappear from my face. Maybe it's because when he did notice it he was fighting back his blush too.

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_A/N: I'm so sorry this was so short but I guessed that now was a good place to end it. The next chapter was include the mysterious day at the lake and much more._

_It would mean so much to me if you guys could review because I'm being 100% honest with you when I say that reviews make me write quicker as I want to get stuff out to you as quick as possible._

_As always send me any ideas and also if you have any ideas or requests for one shots then send them to me on here too. As always thanks for reading it means so much to me that you guys take time out of your life's to read this._


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